Bobby tackles internet threat

HUNDREDS of youngsters from Yatton, Claverham and Cleeve are to be trained about the dangers of talking to strangers on the internet, as part of a special project between police and school bosses.Police are visiting Backwell School over the next few months to deliver a special training programme to teach youngsters the dangers of talking to people on the worldwide web.The project is being pioneered by Yatton and Claverham community beat officer Andy Bibbings and comes after increasing concern about paedophiles posing as teens to attract youngsters.The training sessions will cover topics such as internet safety and tips and advice on sites to avoid, with each student receiving a special web training pack.Parents will also be trained on how to protect internet links, block access to certain sites and to be more aware of what their children are doing.PC Bibbings said: "Around 700 young people on my beat attend Backwell School, so training in class seemed the ideal way to get the message through."The problem with the internet and chatrooms is that a paedophile can present himself as a 13-year-old girl."These people groom children and make them feel safe with an end goal of trying to meet with the victim."There are a worryingly large proportion of young people who will go to meet a stranger who they have met on the internet."Young people have been giving their personal details and photos to people they meet in chatrooms, leaving themselves open to all sorts of dangers."I am aware of one man who groomed a young girl for two years on the internet before meeting with her and then abusing her."Paedophiles are willing to invest a lot of time in grooming children and this is what we need to protect them from. By offering this training, we hope to encourage young people to use the internet more safely.